The Real-Life Diet of Larry Nance Jr., the NBA Player with Crohn's Disease

The third-year Laker probably eats a lot more seafood alfredo dinners than you do.

Unless you are, for some godforsaken reason, a dedicated fan of Mountain West Conference basketball, you probably only know former Wyoming standout and 2015 Lakers first-round draft pick Larry Nance Jr. for what might be the most jaw-dropping in-game dunk of all time that doesn't involve Vince Carter pole-vaulting over poor Frederic Weis. What doesn't appear in any of his YouTube highlight clips, though, is the fact that Nance was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 16. The gastrointestinal condition causes inflamed bowels, fatigue, weight loss, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and a host of other debilitating symptoms that can prevent those who suffer from it from leading active, healthy lifestyles—let trying to dunk on everyone for 82 games a year.

Fortunately for Nance, Crohn's can often be controlled by making lifestyle changes and adhering to special diets—cutting out particularly fatty or greasy foods, for example. Before an early-season Lakers-Clippers game, we caught up with the third-year forward to learn how living with the condition affects his growth, his training, and his gameday routine—and why he eats a lot more seafood alfredo than most of us.

GQ: You were diagnosed as a sophomore in high school. That’s a tough age in general, but how did you take your Crohn’s diagnosis on top of everything else?

Larry Nance Jr.: It was definitely tough. At that age, all you want to do is be normal and not stand out from everybody else. No one wants to learn that you’ve got a disease you’ve got to live with for the rest of your life.

My growth was severely stunted because of the disease, but once we figured it out, I caught back up. It took me a little while to find another professional athlete who had Crohn’s, too, but then I learned about David Garrard, who played quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars at the time. Once I found him, it was like, Alright, somebody’s done it before and I don’t have to be the only one. And it just spurred me on.

What sorts of foods do you have to avoid?

One of the biggest things that trainers and strength coaches love for athletes to have are different kinds of nuts and seeds because there’s so much protein in there. But that’s something I absolutely cannot have under any circumstances. It makes ensuring that I get enough protein very difficult. People with Crohn's also can't have too many raw vegetables, so I try to stay away from those. I also can’t have popcorn or anything greasy.

It could absolutely be worse, though. I’m pretty fortunate because there are a lot of people with Crohn’s who can barely eat anything. It’s a very individualized diet.

What’s a normal day of eating like for you?

I’m pretty basic. Every day I get to the gym and our team chef will have an omelette station up and running. My go-to is three eggs, cheese, and ham, just to get some protein in there. And nothing so heavy that I can’t run around. Workouts are anywhere between an hour and a half to three hours, depending on the day. I can usually make it through the day without eating more, but sometimes I have, say, a BiPro protein water on the side.

And what do you eat before a game then? Do you need to play hungry or does that get you fatigued?

Everyone I know has their own routine. We have a shootaround at around 10, and leave around noon. Then I’ll have something pretty light, like a flour tortilla and rice, to hold me over energy-wise. But I need to play on an empty stomach.

That all sounds pretty manageable. What about the rest of a non-game day?

Lunch, again, is there for us at the gym. I usually go for the seafood option, like salmon or cod. I like asparagus or steamed broccoli on the side, and fingerling potatoes for some carbs. But then I like to have a heavy dinner, usually a lot of steak or pasta—shrimp alfredo, or something like that, just to sit in my stomach and ensure that I have something to burn throughout the night.

That is super heavy.

Yeah, I would never eat something like that before a game, but because we burn so many calories, if I don’t sit on something heavy at night I’ll start to lose weight. My body starts eating into fat stores and muscle at night if I just eat, say, a burger, or some other normal dinner.

This might be different for me than for other players, though, because of my Crohn’s. I burn through food like it’s nothing.

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